Please join us at the Monroe County Public Library for these recent "Cuban" films

Wed, Sept. 19, 7pm Comandante (2005) Oliver Stone

In February 2002, acclaimed director Oliver Stone traveled to Havana to meet with Cuban leader, Fidel Castro. Over the course of three days, the two men engaged in a series of frank conversations, which culminated, months later, in the documentary film Comandante. "I was tired of movies because they?re so big, expensive and artificial...and also the digital aspect was so important. It was great to take up the camera and feel it out and feel the freedom." The Cuban leader had agreed to the interview under the condition that he could stop filming at any moment. The production team taped over 30 hours of interviews and Castro never exercised his power to stop the cameras. Over the three days, Stone films Castro working at his office, touring a medical school and a museum, and follows him through the streets where he mingles freely with Cuban citizens. "Castro is isolated in the hemisphere and for those reasons I admire him because he's a fighter. He stood alone and in a sense he's Don Quixote, the last revolutionary, tilting at this windmill of keeping the island in a state of, I suppose, egalitarianism where everyone would get the break, everyone gets the education and everyone gets good water." The film paints Castro as an engaging and intelligent leader, and looks beyond the familiar beard, cigar and jungle fatigues. Stone and Castro discuss pivotal moment in world history such as President Kennedy's assassination, the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban missile crisis.

Wed Oct 17, 7pm. Viva Cuba (2005)

Juan Carlos Cremata Cuban film director Juan Carlos Cremata?s new movie is about a young girl who runs away from home because her mother plans to leave Fidel Castro?s Cuba and she doesn?t want to go. But "Viva Cuba" isn?t a political film - it?s a human one. .When young Malu overhears her Mother making plans to leave, she runs away with her best friend, Jorge, heading to the remote eastern tip of Cuba, where her father works at a lighthouse.The movie chronicles the pair?s adventures as they flee authorities across the island, from fancy beach resorts to provincial towns to the rural mountains. They sing, they fight, they get lost, they make up. They finally arrive at the lighthouse, but once there they realize they have nowhere else to run. It is a film for all ages: children as well as any adult who could be illuminated by a glimpse into the emotions of a child.

Wed Nov 28, 7pm Love and Suicide (2005)

Luis Moro and Lisa France A unique love story of a man (Kamar de los Reyes) who goes to Cuba and discovers the one thing between love and suicide. Shot on location in Havana. Luis Moro has received numerous nods of approval from critics and audiences alike who flock to art houses and festivals to see this indie hit. Moro also appears as a character in the film. His dedication to making this film is clear from his performance and his enthusiasm outside the film during communication with press and audiences. Where the film succeeds even more is through its photography. Director of photography Demian Lichtenstein employs an impressive number of hand-held shots and while this might speak of the film's limited budget, the style is appropriate for the film. The guerilla camera techniques vividly display Cuba's famous Havana making the physical location as important a figure as are the human characters. Though the editing of the film for plotting purposes could have been tighter, the visuals of the film leave the viewer wanting to see more of the island as the filmmakers have created a video postcard of Cuba.

Films sponsored by CUBAmistad and IU Spanish and Portuguese Dept. Screenings at Monroe Co. Public Library Auditorium 303 E. Kirkwood.

Free Admission.